Still Alone
by battousaixangel
Summary: A DracoHermione romance-angst fiction. He wasn't good enough for his father, but she said he was good enough for her. So how could he turn against her to become a Death Eater?
1. Her Story

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STILL ALONE

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Chapter One: Her Story

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Author's Notes: My Harry Potter craze has drove me to the brink of a very unhealthy obsession. The only way to ease that was to write this. I know it's somewhat short, but that's all you'll get out of me when it's only the prologue/first chapter. Future chapters will be _at least_ three times longer, I promise. I'll be seeing Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban tomorrow... so things may change.

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Disclaimer: I'd love to, but I don't.

"Mum, this is absolutely beautiful. Why haven't you worn it?"

"It's rather old... perhaps about a year older than you and your brother."

"Really? Wow, you've had this for almost seventeen years? But why haven't you worn it? It's beautiful, even after all these years. Very fit for someone like yourself."

She laughed. "That's very flattering, but the meaning behind it holds a lot of memories that I'd prefer to keep away. It may be beautiful, but it's tainted."

"Tainted? What do you mean?"

She sighed as she took the silver diamond bracelet out of her daughter's hands, looping it into four of her fingers as she stroked it with her thumb. "Your father—"

The girl, Kasandra, whom had been asking the questions, immediately turned red from anger. "Malfoy? Malfoy! What does Malfoy have to do with this?" she snapped.

Hermione turned to embrace her daughter. "He's not as horrible as you think, sweetheart. There was a reason why I fell in love with him, and within that reason came out you and your brother. He was—"

"But he left you!" she shouted. "To turn to—"

"Let me finish first, Kasandra," Hermione scolded softly. "The time I spent with him was the best of my life. We went through some horrible and joyful times together, but in the end, he chose the other path because it was his duty. His loyalties lied elsewhere."

"That still doesn't—"

"You have much to learn about your father," she said quietly. "So very much. I've told you many times that he didn't know that I was pregnant with you and your brother when he left me."

"Would it have been different if he had known? Would he still have stayed with you? Helped you take care of us?" Kasandra questioned calmly, though inside, she was nearly exploding. "If his duties and loyalties lied elsewhere, and if he was willing to leave you, I bet you anything that he would've been willing to do the same with us. So regardless, he's still a son of a—"

"Kasandra!"

"He is!" she yelled, ignoring the look of discontentment on her mother's face. "I hate him! I absolutely hate him!"

"What's this all about?" drawled a long, lazy familiar voice from the door. "Kas, are you arguing with Mum about father again?" he sighed.

Kasandra glared over at her twin brother. "Shut up, Draco."

He merely smirked at her aggravated response. Then, just as he opened his mouth to say something again, someone else popped their head in, surprising even Draco himself.

Kasandra's eyes immediately widened at the sight of a person with messy brown hair and glasses. "Hi Uncle Harry!" she said happily as she ran over to him, giving him her biggest smile and hug. "I haven't seen you in months! How'd you get in here?"

Harry grinned as he kissed her light brown hair. "My secret. Now, what's all this fuss about?" he asked. "I could hear you yelling all the way from downstairs."

"Just the usual fight again," Draco answered, earning another glare from his sister. Hermione came up to Harry and gave him a hug.

"The usual fight, huh, Hermione?" He grinned. "Are you ever going to tell them about how this all started?"

Kasandra turned to her mother. "You could at least do that much, Mum, since you keep telling me that I have so much to learn about him. You might as well start from the very beginning."

Hermione sent Harry a quick glare before looking back at her set of twins. "I don't think—"

"Mum, if you don't tell us, then you and I are going to have the same fights over and over again. Make me understand, please, because I really want to see how you see him as not being a horrible guy. I want to know what happened, what he did, and how it all came to be."

Hermione shook her head as she stared at her daughter. "No, not now, Kasi. Not when your Uncle Harry is here. He probably won't stay for long, so go spend some time with him. I'll tell you this story another ti—"

"Actually," Harry added in hopefully, "I have plenty of time." Even he was curious himself as to what had happened before the twins were conceived. Hermione never really did talk about it. She was quite touchy when it came to that subject.

"See!" Kasandra held onto her mother's arm. "Even Uncle Harry wants to know! Come on, Mum, tell us! Please?" she pleaded as she tugged at her sleeve.

Hermione let out an irritable sigh and glared at Harry out of the corner of her eye as she sat down on her bed. He merely smiled warmly back at her, knowing that she had given up.

Kasandra's face instantly beamed. "So you're going to tell us?" she asked happily.

Hermione nodded her head slowly. "Yes, I suppose I have no other choice... come on, all of you, sit down."

All three of them sat.

"I warn you, however, that this will be long... and by long, I don't mean twenty or thirty minutes, I mean _hours_. Many, many _hours_," she said bluntly. "So, you still want to hear?"

Kasandra nodded in excitement. "Definitely yes!"

Even Draco, who looked like an exact replica of his father, seemed genuinely interested despite the blank look upon his face.

"Okay..." she sighed. "Okay... you asked for it. But while I'm telling this, I will not allow anyone to leave, that is, with the exception for bathroom breaks."

"That's cruel," Harry whined falsely.

Hermione shot him another glare. "Well, you're making me tell it, so you better be here to listen to it because I'm not going to ever explain this again, you hear?" she said grumpily.

They all nodded.

She sighed. This will not come easy, she thought. Telling the story of the Slytherin that she had fallen in love with meant that she would have to reopen some unhealed wounds, and she didn't want to do that. But she had kept it to herself for long enough. It was about time she shared it with her children.

"Okay..." she breathed in. "As you know, your father and I were enemies since our first year at Hogwarts. Back then, he really was a stupid ferret, always so snobby and full of himself. He had hated me for three reasons: one was because I was a Muggle-born, and as you know, your father was raised to hate Muggles because they were not pure and were seen as weak. The second reason was because I was the Gryffindor know-it-all, and third was because Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley were my best friends. It wasn't until the winter of our sixth year when..."

Kinda stunk, didn't it? Oh well... I guess the chapters can only get better then, right? Leave a review and let me know what you think of it so far! :) I'd appreciate it very much!


	2. The Very Beginning

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STILL ALONE

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Chapter Two: The Very Beginning

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Author's Note: So sorry for the late update! It's just... I've been working on another Harry Potter story about James and Lily. So if you're interested in J/L, please go to my profile and look for **Monday Mornings**. :) Anyway though, beginning chapters are always boring... so please bear with me!

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xoxo

He was mad at her again.

Hermione sighed as she shook her head. She couldn't believe it. It was already their third fight this week, and if that wasn't ridiculous enough, it was over the _same_ thing. The _same_ damn thing!

And that thing was Viktor Krum.

Why he had to constantly mock her about writing to Viktor, she did not know. It seemed that every time she received an owl from him, or when she was writing back to him, Ron would always scorn at her.

"If he really didn't want to get with you, then he wouldn't be sending you owls every week," he would say to her angrily. "So if you're truthful in what you say: that you two are only friends and nothing more, then you should only write back once a month! At the rate you're going at, you are only shamelessly leading him on, Hermione!"

In her defense, Hermione would merely say, "That is for me to decide."

She was so tired of trying to explain to him every time they fought that her and Viktor were merely friends. She didn't see the point in trying when all he would do was yell at her, never focusing on giving her a chance to explain. And even when he did, he never really did listened to her anyway.

So she was tired of it. Tired of it all. Tired of _him_.

Because honestly, she didn't even understand why it bothered him so much. After all, Harry seemed to be fine with it, and it was he who had to compete with Viktor during their fourth year.

But at the same time, Hermione wasn't blind either. She figured that Ron probably acted out on an account of his jealousy. But if he was so jealous, she reasoned, then he should've done something about it in the first place.

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Boys, she thought inwardly with a roll of her eyes. _They always have to make things so much more complicated than it really is._

With another sigh, Hermione placed down her quill and began to re-read what she had just written to Viktor, just to double check for any errors and grammar. She could be such a perfectionist sometimes.

Her eyes burned however when it came across the line: _I will think about it._

Maybe I should change it, she thought. _Because I don't know—_

"_I will think about it_?" a deep, sharp voice mocked from behind her. Recognizing the cold voice instantaneously, Hermione turned around to glare at the smirking Slytherin. "Thinking about going to visit Krum over the summer, are we, Granger? Does the Weasel know about this?"

In a huff, Hermione turned away and rolled up her parchment, in an attempt to keep it away from his prying Slytherin eyes. "Shut it, Malfoy, and go away," she said irritably. "Mind your own filthy business."

"I'd rather not, Granger," Draco said lazily as he leant up against the wall with his arms folded across his chest. "It's rather fun watching you squirm from embarrassment. It's a shame your two bodyguards aren't here to save you from that. Speaking of those two dolts, where are they anyway?"

"Quidditch practice," she answered casually. She wasn't going to let someone like Draco Malfoy rile her up now—not when she had so much more studying to do. Arguing with him right now would just be a waste of time, and besides, that's exactly what he wants, she thought, for you to bicker with him. There would be many other times for that, guaranteed. "They're not dolts either, Malfoy," she said, defending her two companions. "I believe the two dolts would be _your_ two bodyguards."

When she saw Draco smirk at this, she stared at him. Why wasn't he defending them? "Yes, I suppose you're right, Granger. They are rather stupid, aren't they?" He seemed amused by this.

"Some friend you are," she mumbled under her breath as she began to gather up her belongings to leave.

"Before you leave, Granger, I have something to tell you." He paused momentarily on purpose, knowing that she was genuinely interested in what he had to say. Hermione looked sharply at him out of the corner of her eye, urging him to continue. His smirk widened. "Weasley is in the Hospital Wing."

She didn't believe him for a moment. "How do you know?"

"McGonagall told me to tell you." He grinned maliciously. "'_Oh, Mr. Malfoy! Would you please go tell Miss Granger, presumably in the library, that Mr. Weasley is in the Hospital Wing due to a Bludger to the stomach? I expect she'd want to know,'_" he mimicked her tone of voice.

Hermione's face fell. "Why would she tell you—"

"Shut up, Granger," he growled. "Weasley's such a lousy player. Honestly, a Bludger to the stomach? Can you tell me how or why he's still on the team?" He paused, as if he was in deep thought before grinning maliciously at her again. "Or perhaps it's because they feel _so_ sorry for him that—"

"_What?_" Hermione stared at him in disgust, as if she couldn't believe he had just said that. Then, glaring at him, she spat, "Remember what I said to you during our second year at the first Quidditch practice, Malfoy? Yeah, that still applies."

Draco seemed unfazed by this. "Yes, I do, but it wasn't just that, Granger. I have the talent too, and you know it. Being rich doesn't hurt at all. And just to let you know, my father bought those brooms _after_ I made it onto the team."

She shook her head, not believing him.

"Do _you_ remember what I said to you right after _that_?" he asked cruelly, and Hermione's face hardened. "That still applies too, Mudblood."

He had called her that too many times before to get an argument out of her. The effect just didn't sting as much as it used to. "That's getting old, Malfoy," she said calmly with her head held tall. Then, without another word, Hermione quickly scurried out of the library, and to the Hospital Wing.

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I hope you're okay, Ron. Stupid Malfoy, I'll deal with you later.

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xoxo

When Hermione arrived, Harry had just stood up, as if he was about ready to leave. But Hermione didn't see him, as her attention wasn't on him. Instead, it was focused on the red-haired boy that laid upon the hospital bed. She quickly hurried over to him, dropping her books onto the ground without a care.

"Are you okay?" she asked quietly as she slid into the chair that Harry had previously been sitting in. She held onto his hand delicately. "Ron?" she asked again when he didn't answer her.

With a grunt, he turned to look at her, his face stony as he took his hand out of her grasp. For a moment, Hermione didn't understand what was wrong, until—

"My gosh, you're not still mad about our argument, are you?" she asked hysterically, as her eyes widened in exasperation. "Ron, you are being absolutely ridiculous! You're sitting here in pain and you won't even _talk_ to me because of a stupid argument that we've had a million times before?"

He looked away from her and remained silent.

"Ron, really," Harry added, agreeing with Hermione fully, "this is ridiculous." He glanced down at his watch and let out a heavy sigh, obviously disgruntled. "Work this out, guys, because I've got to go. Detention with Malfoy... and Filch," he groaned.

Hermione gave him a sympathetic look as Ron frowned.

"See you later, Harry," Hermione said quietly, "and don't get into anymore trouble."

"Haha," Harry said sarcastically. "Bye Ron, Hermione. I'll meet up with you guys later in the common room, all right?"

They both nodded and Harry left. Looking back at Ron, Hermione frowned. He wasn't looking at her and was obviously uncomfortable with her being here with him. Standing up, she brushed off her robes and bent over to pick up her books.

"Since you obviously don't want me here, I'll see you later, Ronald," she said coldly.

He watched her retreating form silently, hating the sound of his name when she called him by his full name. When she reached the door, he gave up. "Stay, Hermione," he finally said.

Hermione paused, turning back to look at him. "Are you sure?" she asked. "You're not going to be a git?" She smiled at him, letting him know that she was only joking, and he smiled back.

"No." He gestured her to come sit down next to him on the chair with a light swing of his head. "So I take it Malfoy told you?"

She nodded as she sat back down. "Yeah. Are you okay though?"

He nodded.

"But why did McGonagall tell _Malfoy_, of all people, to come tell me?" she asked. "I mean, he could've easily said yes to her and not do it."

Ron shrugged. "We were going to have someone else do it, but we just happened to pass by Malfoy first. Honestly, it's not that big of a deal. So I got hit with a Bludger, it's not like I'm dying. Everyone was freaking out like crazy."

"That Bludger is pretty hard, Ron. Don't speak of it too lightly; that thing can cause a lot of damage," she warned gently. "Remember Harry back in our second year?"

Ron laughed out loud as he recalled the memory. "It wouldn't have been half as bad if Lockhart wasn't there, trying to fix Harry's wrist himself."

Hermione laughed along with him. "Yeah."

A peaceful silence filled the atmosphere for the next few minutes, but it was broken gently when Ron turned to look at Hermione. "Did Malfoy do anything to you?" he asked.

"Aside from the usual, no." Hermione picked up one of her books from the ground. "I can protect myself, you know. I don't always need you and Harry by my side whenever we confront each other. I can hex Malfoy back into a ferret if I really wanted to."

Ron grinned. "I'd love to see that again."

She grinned back at him. "At the rate Malfoy's going at with me, you probably will."

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xoxo

With a blank face, Harry turned the knob to Filch's filthy and ungodly room. When he entered, he had to suppress another groan as the vision of evil, Draco Malfoy, filled his sight.

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Great, he thought sourly as he stepped further into the room. _Time with Filch and Malfoy. This just keeps getting better and better, doesn't it?_

A smirk crossed Draco's features as he watched his archenemy take a seat from across from him. Harry was doing everything to keep his eyes away from Draco, knowing that if he looked over, his temper would reach its extreme. And if that happened, another detention would be set in line.

After all, the very reason why he and Draco were in this room right now doing detention was because Harry had lost his temper at the smug bastard. Draco had a real knack for pissing him off.

The room was cold, Harry suddenly realized with a slight shiver. Cold and dark—honestly, what had he expected? It was _Filch's_ room after all. It would've been much more creepy to him if he had walked in to find out that Filch's room was bright and filled with bunnies—that is, filled with bunnies in a good way.

"So," Harry heard Draco start from across the room, "you finally decided to show up. You're five minutes later, Potter. Filch would've slaughtered you if he was on time to find out himself." Harry could almost feel the smirk in his voice.

"Shut up, Malfoy." Harry refused to look at him; he knew that that was what Draco was trying to get him to do.

He never thought he'd say it, but Harry wished that Filch could just be here right now, where he should be. That way, the temptation of hexing Draco would be under strict control.

Harry gritted his teeth as Draco began to whistle, purely out of the lack of nothing to do. Or was it? He was probably just doing it to bug the hell out of Harry.

Then, as if God was answering his prayers, an irritated Filch came stomping in, muttering a string of curses meant for Peeves the Poltergeist. He didn't seem to be aware of Harry and Draco, that is, until he looked up.

"Oh, yes, detention..." Filch smiled darkly, his crooked, yellow-plagued teeth showing. "Potter and Malfoy, what have you two gotten yourselves into now?" His smiled faded.

Harry and Draco exchanged awkward glances before staring back at Filch again.

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xoxo

"All right, Mr. Weasley, you are free to go," Madam Pomfrey said tightly as she brought in a tray with some antidotes, placing it beside the stand of another injured student. She looked back at Ron and stared at him sternly.

Ron gulped as Hermione suppressed a smile. Though a nurse, Madam Pomfrey did come off a bit scary sometimes, but it was only because she worried about the well-being of all her students. She had to be stern and demanding, otherwise, the students could and would easily walk all over her.

"Now, listen here, Mr. Weasley," she said as she helped him off the bed. "You be very careful playing Quidditch next time, all right?" Ron nodded. "And watch out for that horrid Bludger," she added. "Wouldn't want to do this all over again, would we?"

Ron shook his head.

"Good, off you go now."

As Madam Pomfrey left, Ron looked back at Hermione with a dreadful face. "She's so scary sometimes."

Hermione laughed. "She only wants the best for you, Ron. She's coming off a little scary because she wants you to be careful, so that you won't have to come back here again."

Ron seemed to think about it for a moment, and then nodded. "I suppose you're right, Hermione."

"Of course," she said, "of course."

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xoxo

"Cleaning," Harry panted, "Filch's," another pant, "filthy," wheeze, "room." He paused for a moment. "This is disgusting. I bet you he hasn't cleaned this room in years."

"Look at what you got us into," Draco growled, as he polished the many dirty desks. "You stupid Saint. Why did you have to lose your damn temper?"

Harry glared at the arrogant Slytherin. "Why do you have to be such a stupid bastard all the damn time?"

"SHUT UP!" Filch suddenly roared as he entered the room. "One more squeak from either one of you and that will be a week's worth of detention."

They both fell silent, and that was how it remained throughout the night.

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xoxo

"What does that have to do with anything?" Kasandra asked as her mother stopped. "There was barely any interaction between you and Malfoy!"

Hermione sighed as she tried to calm her daughter down. "Love doesn't start just like that, Kasandra. The beginning is always the most slowest and perhaps the most boring part to it. Your father and I didn't ever do much with each other before that but bicker.

I was just establishing what Harry, Ron, and I had together first. I want you to see how close we were, what we did for each other. The reason why Harry got detention was because of me—a few days earlier, your father had confronted me. Harry was only trying to protect me, as always along with Ron, but he got a bit carried away. Obviously, friendship plays a big role in this—you can't be in love without being friends first."

While Kasandra was disappointed, Harry had a look of horror on his face.

"Filch," he muttered. "That was the worst day, cleaning anything and everything within his class—WITHOUT MAGIC, but WITH MALFOY. It was terrible."

"I can imagine," Hermione said with a slight smile.

"I can't believe Viktor Krum liked you." Draco stared at her in disbelief. "That's unbelievable."

"Should I be hurt by that comment?" Hermione asked jokingly.

"No, I didn't mean it like that. It's just... he was famous. He was the Bulgarian Seeker... and you were... er... uh... okay, let's face it, Mum, you were just a frizzy-haired, nerdy bookworm."

"Though bluntly put, that's quite true."

"So, Uncle Ron had a crush on you?" Draco asked, now changing the subject. "Wasn't that kind of weird for you? Being best friends and all?"

"A little bit, but we'll get to that later."

"Come on, Mum!" Kasandra pleaded. "Get to the good part!"

"You can't rush things, Kasandra, not if you want the full story. This is just the very beginning."

"I know, but... this isn't helping. Malfoy's such a jerk right now! So continue!"

Hermione sighed. "All right, all right..."

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xoxo

To my reviewers:

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Vipera berus,** aleks**,** justcrazyobsessed**,** Marionette**,** AngelofDeathO-o**,** Prozac Bunny**,** Sparkle85**,** ali potter**,** corae**,** beatrix**,and **ela**: Thank you all for reviewing!! I'll keep trying to update as soon as I can. :)

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josie: Thank you for all the compliments! As for your question regarding where Ron is... don't worry about it. ;) He'll pop in sometime.

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Cassidy: I know where you're getting that... but I hope that after reading this, you get how the format of the story is. The very last scene will always be Hermione and the kids reflecting/talking.

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star fantasy 29: Thank you so much!!

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SaTiNk06: Lol, wow... thanks. And in _this_ story, no, Draco and Hermione will not end up together. (Hence Hermione re-telling the story) There may be a sequel, however, where they will end up together... but I'm not even thinking about that yet.

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TennisNerd23: Pranali, you are such a dork... haha, I'll see you in school soon.

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Callisto Callispi: Ahh! Don't worry! I'm not going to abandon this story. Thanks so much for reviewing. :) I love your story so much! It's my absolute #1 favorite. (If you haven't noticed, it's the only one in my favorites. Hehe.)

Oh, and if you've found any spelling errors and/or wrong grammar... I'm sorry! I have no beta-reader, so I do it all on my own with all of my other stories. I hope it isn't too bad.

And keep the reviews coming! :) I especially love long reviews, so if you have time, please critique it! Thanks so much!

And I apologize too for the blandness of this chapter!

I normally don't do this, but guys, if you haven't read **The Passion of Hate and Love** by **Callisto Callispi**, do so now! It's an AMAZING DracoHermione fanfiction!


	3. Not So Harmless

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STILL ALONE

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Chapter Three: Not So Harmless

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Author's Notes: Here's chapter three! Sorry for the slight delay.

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xoxo

"...and Malfoy was being an impossible git, as always. It wasn't fun at all, especially with Filch breathing down your neck. For a squib, he is quite and rather scary."

Ron gave Harry a sympathetic pat on the back with a grim face. "It wasn't much fun laying on that hospital bed either with a bad stomach. Hermione was reading to me half the time... nearly put me to sleep a few times."

"I heard that, Ron," Hermione snapped as she caught up with them from behind. Both boys gave her apologetic looks. "Anyway," she said with a wave of her hand, as to dismiss the earlier comment made by Ron. "Hogsmeade is in two weeks and I was wondering if either one of you guys were going with anyone else?"

Ron eyed her sharply. "Why?"

"Yeah, why?" Harry asked. "We always go to Hogsmeade together."

"No, not last year we didn't." She glanced at Harry wearily. "You went with Cho Chang, remember?"

Then, what seemed like a pained motion, Harry nodded. He didn't even want to think about that. By now, Harry and Ron had stopped in their steps, staring at Hermione curiously. They were waiting for her to explain herself.

"Well," she started nervously, staring at the ground, "you see... I just got this note..."

"What note?" Ron asked at once.

"Ron, let me finish!" she scolded, glaring up at him. Then she sighed. "I don't know who it's from, but the person who wrote it told me to—"

"Well, well, look who we have here, if it isn't the Pothead, the Weasel, and the Mudblood. What a pleasant surprise," drawled the voice of a certain blond-haired Slytherin in the shadows as the trio made a move to turn around the corner.

Harry's hand immediately flew to settle on the hilt of his wand as Ron stepped in front of Hermione, shielding her from Draco's glaring eyes. It was merely routine for the both of them to do this during an unpleasant encounter with the conniving Slytherin. When dealing with him, Hermione was their first priority.

"What do you want, Malfoy?" Harry spat.

But Hermione didn't want this; she didn't want to be constantly protected by her best friends. She wanted to prove to them that she could hold and fight her own battles. Gently, she pushed Ron out of the way, glaring up at Draco.

"Aw, the little filthy Mudblood wants another quarrel with me." Draco's smirk altered into a rather amused grin. "Come on, Granger, go for it," he teased.

Hermione's eyes narrowed. Her hand slowly reached into the inside of her robes for her wand. "Don't taunt me, you stupid ferret." She could hear the protests of Harry and Ron beside her, trying to pull her back as Draco stepped closer to her. "I'm not scared of you, Malfoy. Don't think I won't hex you."

Ron held his long arm out in front of Hermione, his eyes leveled with Draco Malfoy. It suddenly occurred to Hermione then that Draco was just as tall as Ron. Though Ron was tall and lanky, Draco had more flesh and muscles on his bone, due to his head start on Quidditch, no doubt. She suddenly felt very little, being the smallest of the three and a full head shorter than Ron and Draco.

"Leave her alone, Malfoy," she heard Ron growl. "Pick on someone your own size."

Draco's mouth opened to speak, but Hermione beat him to it.

"No, Ron, let me at him."

Ron seemed surprised by this and stared down at the small brunette. "_Hermione_," he warned through the stress of her name.

Amused, Draco roughly pushed Ron out of the way, hovering tauntingly over Hermione. "No, Weasely," he said as his eyes remained firm upon the Muggle witch, "I'd like to see the Mudblood here prove her words to me. Go on, Granger," he provoked. "Hex me. I dare you."

"DON'T CALL HER THAT!" both Harry and Ron roared.

"Leave her alone!" Ron shouted.

But he didn't. Draco waited for a few seconds, watching Hermione darkly as she seemingly debated with herself. She seemed to be struggling coming up with an answer. But when she finally came up with it, she stepped forward to him. Harry immediately took a hold of her wrist.

"You don't want to do this, Hermione," he said quickly as he tried to pry the wand out of her hands. "Just leave it to me and Ron. We'll take care of this stupid git for you."

Hermione turned to look at him and shook her head. Slowly, she pulled her arm away from him, her wand still in hand. "No, Harry. I've had enough of his insults and ridicules. I've had enough of _him_, and I'm not going to take it anymore."

Before Harry could open his mouth to protest, a sudden thump echoed throughout the hall. Harry and Hermione abruptly turned their heads to find Ron and Draco on the ground wrestling.

"You stupid bastard!" Ron shouted as he landed a punch across Draco's cheek. "I'll kill you! I'm going to—"

Before he could finish his sentence, Ron was hit with a rough blow to the stomach, where Draco's powerful fist had been beaten in. A loud groan escaped the red-haired boy's mouth as he rolled over. Harry and Hermione were at his side instantly.

"Ron!" cried Hermione. "Ron! Are you okay?!" She knelt down next to him, her frantic hands pressed softly against his stomach.

The pain was too much to bear and he did not answer her.

"Come on, Hermione," Harry said quickly as he and Hermione picked Ron up. "Let's bring him to the Hospital Wing."

"No!" Ron protested weakly. "You can't... Madam Pomfrey's gonna get mad..."

"Why?" Harry asked.

"Because I was there yesterday," he groaned. "If I come back the next day with another stomach injury, she'll—"

"Who cares!" Hermione shrieked. "You're in pain, Ron!"

"No, Hermione, listen to me," he urged. "If you bring me to the Hospital Wing, Madam Pomfrey will want to know what happened. If you tell her that Malfoy and I got into a fight, that'll be a month's worth of detention and points taken away from our Houses. Please don't make me go through _that_ pain. This is nothing compared to what it will be if you drag me to the Hospital Wing. Harry just told me how _his_ detention went with Malfoy and Filch..." Ron went pale. "I can't stand a month's worth of that..."

Harry glanced over at Hermione. "He does have a point," he stated.

"But he's hurt!" She glared at Harry. "You can't—"

"If you let me lay down for a while, I'll be fine..." Ron muttered. "Please, let's just go back to the Gryffindor Common Room before someone comes and sees this..."

After a moment of debating with herself, Hermione gave up with a frustrated sigh. "Fine!" she said loudly in exhaustion. "But Ron, if you're not better by tonight, then I'm bringing you to Madam Pomfrey."

They started to head away, and going unnoticed by Harry and Ron, Hermione glanced back at Draco, who had just gotten himself off of the ground with a bruised cheekbone. She glared at him for a second, silently informing him that she was not over with him yet.

Draco stared back at her lazily, as if he was unfazed by what had just happened. Hermione turned away, her full, worried attention now focused on the limping boy beside her of whom she was holding onto tightly.

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Draco growled deep within his throat as he stomped through the Slytherin Dungeons. He hadn't been this angry in a very long time—it had taken everything he had to act impassive as Hermione and Harry carried Ron off with so much care and tenderness. The affection she had for those boys sickened him to no end.

But what really angered him was the fact that she had the nerve to glare back at him, _threatening_ him, _challenging_ him. She had the nerve to disrespect him.

__

Stupid Mudblood, he raged inwardly. _You don't know who you're messing with. I'll get you back soon enough._

Just as he made a move to close the door to his dormitory, Pansy Parkinson appeared at the doorway, staring at him in shock. Draco, who didn't want to be bothered at the moment, slammed the door in her face.

"Draco!" she shrieked as she opened the door, letting herself in. "What happened to you?" She reached out to touch his bruised cheekbone, her hands cold against his wound.

"Don't worry about it," he said calmly, pushing his face away from her. "It's only a bruise. It'll fade away in time."

His words did nothing to comfort her, as she still looked at him with worry. "Who did this to you? Was it Potter? It was Potter, wasn't it? Oh, don't worry, Draco, I'll—"

"Pansy." He stared at her lazily. "Shut. Up. Do. Not. Worry. About. It." He was speaking slowly and loudly, wanting her to grasp his message solidly.

She was quiet for a few minutes. Then, as if his words suddenly sunk into her, she stopped her questioning and leaned into him, kissing him lightly on the mouth.

"Does it hurt?" she asked.

Draco breathed in deeply and pulled away, his mind clearly elsewhere. "No."

__

You'll get what's coming to you, Granger. Just you wait.

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"Are you okay?" Hermione asked for the tenth time in two hours as Ron sat up in his bed.

Hermione hadn't left his side since she and Harry dragged him all the way up to his dorm. Now, she was trying to keep him company (by not reading to him) while Harry went off with Neville to look for his lost toad, Trevor.

"I'm fine, Hermione," he sighed for the fifth time that hour. "It isn't fair how girls are allowed to come up to the boy's dorm but the boys aren't allowed in the girls," he complained.

Hermione laughed. "Are you trying to tell me something, Ron? Do you want me to leave and never come back up here again?"

"No, no, it's not that. It's just... not fair."

"Yes, yes it is. Boys are perverts," Hermione stated bluntly.

"Hey!" he protested. "That's not completely true!"

"Okay, fine. _Most_ boys are, then."

"Yeah..." he responded quietly, suddenly glaring into nothingness.

Hermione noticed this and stared at him, touching his hand gently. "Hey, are you okay?" she asked. "What's wrong? What are you glaring at?"

"Malfoy," he growled. "I'm going to hex his ass—"

"Let it go, Ron." Hermione shifted uneasily in her chair, as the mere thought of Draco caused her to become uncomfortable and angry. "I'll take care of it."

"Don't be silly, Hermione."

She glared at him. "How am I being silly, Ron?"

Ron, noting the tight strain in her voice, quickly decided to change the subject. "What were you saying about Hogsmeade weekend again, Hermione? You said you got a note? From who?" He wasn't changing the subject to avoid her question—well, maybe that was _part_ of the reason, but he really was genuinely interested in what importance the note held.

"Don't try to change the subject on me!" she yelled. "Really, tell me, how am I being silly?"

Ron sighed. "Hermione, Malfoy is not a person to mess around with. I mean, I suppose back in our first to third years, it was just a harmless bickering game, but we're getting older now, and he's not so harmless anymore. He's a dangerous person to get involved with. You have to really watch your back when he's around... and when he's not. His father is a Death Eater. There's no doubt in my mind that he will become one too."

"Ron, don't you think I already know that?" she said in an exasperated tone. After all, she wasn't dumb. She knew exactly what the Malfoys were capable of. "I know we're not kids anymore, and I know he's not harmless. But keep in mind, I probably know five times as much spells as he does. I'm not the smartest Hogwarts student witch for nothing."

"He doesn't need to know any of those spells, Hermione," he said softly. "All he needs to know are the Unforgivable Curses, which I'm sure he does. When it comes down to it, that's all you really need to finish off someone."

Hermione's face softened when she saw Ron's expression overcoming with concern. "I'm not too worried about that right now. Malfoy knows better than to use those at Hogwarts. And either way, even if he didn't know me, he'd hate me anyway because I'm a Mud—Muggle. So messing with him or not, it's just the same."

Ron's mouth twitched. "Hermione..."

Hermione waved her hand at him. "Let's just drop it. We have better things to do with our time than to talk about that stupid ferret."

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Hermione was bored.

Doing her Prefect duties without Ron was quite lonely. It was now 11:23 P.M. as she patrolled the halls, making sure that everyone was where they were supposed to be. She scanned the halls wearily and fifteen minutes later, when she had seen nothing and no one, she decided to call it a night.

But before she could even make her way back to her dorm, Hermione heard an odd knocking from the hall behind her. Curious, she turned around and was greeted with the sight of a smirking Slytherin in the shadows leaning against the wall, with his hands tucked casually into his pockets.

Her eyes narrowed. "What do you want, Malfoy?" she spat.

Draco ignored her inquiry and replied with his own. "Where's your Weasel, Mudblood? What, is he really that weak to skip Prefect duties because of his stomach?" He grinned maliciously when she glared angrily at him. "Well, it seems like no one's here to protect you now. Shall we continued what you started earlier?"

Hermione merely continued to glare at him, his threatening words oblivious to her. Just the sight of him blasted up her anger in full, and she couldn't stand it.

However, Hermione found herself feeling very small when she suddenly realized that Draco Malfoy stood a mere foot away from her, with no doubt something evil formulating within his mind. She stared coldly at him as he smiled corruptly, unflinching.

"Well, Granger?" he taunted. "What are you going to do now?"

Despite her firm, all-knowing appearance, Hermione did not know.

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"So was Uncle Ron really serious when he said that Malfoy was a dangerous person to get involved with?"

Although the question was directed to her mother, Harry had decided to answer instead. "Yes, Kasandra," he said instantly. "It was true. Those who took your father lightly paid dearly in the end."

"So what did he do you to you, Mum?" Kasandra asked. "He didn't do anything... of _that_ kind, did he?"

Hermione shook her head. "No, Kasandra. Your father was many things, but a rapist was not one of them." She turned her head to Draco. "You do realize that you are an uncanny replica of your father, right?"

He nodded. "Yes."

"It's very odd," Hermione continued. "We were exactly your age when all of this happened. Not only that, but I just realized that you, Draco, looked exactly like your father when he was your age."

Draco said nothing, but Kasandra jumped at the chance to insult her brother.

"Wow, he must've been pretty ugly then," she teased. Draco shot her a cold glare and she merely smiled back at him. "Kidding, of course. Sheesh, calm down."

"Anyway," Draco said with a roll of his eyes at his immature sister, "what happened next? And I gotta say, Uncle Ron did put up a pretty good fight for you."

"Yeah," Kasandra added. "Too bad he was beaten to a pulp by Malfoy. If you ask me though, Malfoy doesn't even seem all that tough." She paused thoughtfully. "And the note, what was that all about?"

"Oh." Hermione smiled. "We'll get to that later."

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To my reviewers:

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Sparkle85: Thanks. :) And for Callisto Callispi's fic, just go into my favorite stories section and it'll be in there. You can't miss it... because it's the only one. :)

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Callisto Callispi: AAHH! I was so glad when you updated chapter 18 of Passion! It was so freaking awesome... XD Hehe, thanks so much for your review!

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ElvenPirate: Hey, thanks! And yeah, I do find that whole "Uncle Harry" thing kinda cute too. xD

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JessDracoLover24: LJ group and you're here reading D/H? Perhaps you accidentally read the wrong story. :) But thanks in any case!

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anonymous: Star Wars, eh? I've never seen Star Wars before...

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din's fire: Thanks.

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Lilykins: Ack, thanks! I just realized that you were right. Harry's hair is jet black, not brown. (Sorry, but when I'm writing, I envision the characters from the movie, in which Daniel Radcliffe has brown hair) I DO read the books, I really do! :) I'll be sure to fix that later on when I revise my chapters! Thanks for pointing that out to me and thanks also for adding this and me to your favorites!

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TennisNerd23: Haha, okay. See you in Physics then.

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Radioactive Pixie: Thank you!! =)

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Kichiko: Thanks for reviewing.

Hopefully, the next update should come within the next month... we'll see. I won't abandon this, though at times it may seem like it. Updates may be very slow. Thanks for all the reviews though! And keep them coming!! :)


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